


dragonfruit

by honeysigh



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, taegyu start an animal crossing club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23580511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeysigh/pseuds/honeysigh
Summary: beomgyu ^-^: come visit my island i know you're online!!beomgyu ^-^: i'll give you my fruits?? ㅠㅠTaehyun stares at his texts balefully. When Yeonjun leans over his shoulder to look, he immediately bursts into laughter.“Dude, you aresowhipped,” he says, and Taehyun briefly considers murder.(In which Beomgyu starts an Animal Crossing club at their university and drags a very tired, very whipped Taehyun along.)
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 67
Kudos: 676





	dragonfruit

**Author's Note:**

> my first txt fic! i only have one other yeonjun/beomgyu/soobin wip planned for them so far as i'm currently... super busy... rip. since this is my first try @ writing taegyu (and since this is also a fic i came up with like two weeks after getting into them), i hope the characterization isn't too off.
> 
> also... the timeline for this doesn't fit acnh's actual release timeline. they're all aged up by one year to be in college, so taehyun & kai are both freshman. it's only rated t because of the swear words though. enjoy!

“You’re late, Taehyun-ah,” is what Beomgyu says with a pout when Taehyun makes his way over to him, arms laden with bags of snacks. There’s no disappointment in his eyes, though, only excitement as he practically vibrates from where he stands. “The meeting was supposed to start a whole two minutes ago!”

“Right,” Taehyun says dryly. “Interesting how you haven’t started, though.”

Beomgyu rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “Well, I had to wait for my lovely co-president, of course!”

Taehyun’s really beginning to hate how easily his heart flips at those words, like his brain’s decided to go ahead without permission and equate _co-president_ to some disgusting pet name with the way Beomgyu says it as fondly as he does, like… well, he won’t dwell on it, and tells his brain to shut up. Instead he turns, taking in the amount of students talking and relaxing, paying no mind to the clock. There’s definitely almost twenty people here—

“Exactly nineteen,” is what Beomgyu whispers conspiratorially when Taehyun gives him a quizzical look. “I guess word kinda got out, hm?”

Taehyun resists the urge to roll his eyes. “I guess. Are you gonna start now, hyung, or are you just going to stand around?”

Beomgyu gives him that unfairly adorable pout again. “Don’t rush me,” he says petulantly, before stepping forward anyway and clapping his hands together. “Alright, guys, should we begin?”

A chorus of _yeah_ ’s comes from the group of students, all looking varying degrees of interested. There are a couple people that definitely look like they don’t want to be here, most of them accompanied by people who look way too excited. Taehyun truly sympathizes with the apathy.

“ _Nice_ ,” Beomgyu says, grinning from ear-to-ear, and Taehyun has to tear his gaze away from the sight. “Okay, okay. Welcome to the Animal Crossing Club! Let’s make sure everyone’s where they’re supposed to be, even though there are, ike, a million signs outside saying some variation of _Find your new horizon!_ , and all that jazz.” When no one makes a move, his smile widens. Taehyun briefly wonders how that’s even possible. “Alright, no walk of shame needed, then!”

That gets a few giggles, and Taehyun exasperatedly shakes his head. “We have snacks, but we should do introductions first,” he says.

“Absolutely,” Beomgyu agrees. “I’ll start. I’m Choi Beomgyu, sophomore majoring in marine biology with a music theory and dance double minor. Also, my favorite Animal Crossing villager is Aurora!” Then he gestures at Taehyun. “And this is my co-president—”

“Kang Taehyun,” he fills in. “Freshman, majoring in business and minoring in polisci.”

Beomgyu pauses, giving Taehyun the small, evil grin Taehyun only ever sees before he does or says something that has the potential to make Taehyun regret their entire friendship. “And…?” He says expectantly.

Taehyun blinks at him, thoroughly confused before he realizes what Beomgyu wants him to add and scowls. It’s an intense, four-second long staring contest before Taehyun inevitably gives in, painfully aware of their audience. 

“...And my favorite character is Raymond,” he says darkly.

Beomgyu shoots him a satisfied smirk before he turns back to the rest of the group. “Nice taste, Taehyun-ah! Alright, let’s introduce ourselves and then we’ll settle down and have some snacks, sounds good? Starting with Kai over here.”

As Kai rolls his eyes and begins his introduction, Beomgyu gives Taehyun a light fist bump, and Taehyun takes the time to glare at his best friend, who simply gives him another bright smile. Which, of course, makes his heart flip in his chest again.

He hates this. He really does.

For context, it all starts with a fuck-up on Beomgyu’s end.

In Beomgyu’s mind, of course, _fuck-up_ really just means _sudden, enlightening epiphany_ , so clearly Taehyun’s pain is Beomgyu’s gain. And Taehyun really wouldn’t care if Beomgyu kept his crazy ideas and habits to himself or projected them onto other crazy people (Like Yeonjun, for example), but it’s always Taehyun receiving his apparently god-given role of being the damage control to Beomgyu’s uncontrollable spirit… _every. Single. Time._

“It’s because you’re just the best person ever,” Beomgyu had said sweetly when Taehyun brought it up once back when they were high school students. He’d been sitting in the older boy’s room and looked dubiously up at him when he said this. “I mean, seriously… who else would put up with me as much as you have?”

Taehyun vividly remembers this moment because he’d let himself be privately sentimental for all of three minutes before Beomgyu began hatching a plot to get them out of their upcoming Literature exam, all while begging for homework answers from a week ago. _Good lord_ , he’d thought to himself even as he reached into his backpack for his folders.

Really, their years of friendship since they were children and Beomgyu moved in from Daegu have revolved around this specific dynamic, which Taehyun can’t exactly complain about because Beomgyu’s consistently high-energy spirit is infectious, though no one will ever hear him admit this.

This specific case, though—Taehyun _still_ isn’t quite sure how it came to be. One morning, Beomgyu had been in front of Taehyun’s dorm building, ready to go for coffee like they normally did, and the next thing he knew they were at the university’s main center, staring at the list of different existing student clubs.

“Damn, there’s so many,” Taehyun murmured, before squinting incredulously at one and leaning in. “Wait, what the hell is _The Wheatgrass Club_ supposed to be about?”

“It’s a club about wheatgrass, obviously,” Beomgyu replied matter-of-factly as he looked back and forth between his phone and the club listings, texting rapidly.

Taehyun sighed, shivering when the main doors opened and a blast of winter air blew in. “Hyung, what are we doing here, anyway? If I don’t get my coffee soon I might die.”

“Oh, relax,” said Beomgyu, rolling his eyes before turning to Taehyun and putting his hands on his shoulders. The look in his eyes was earnest, and Taehyun _really_ wishes now that he could’ve figured it out sooner. “Okay, okay, but I’ve been discussing things with Hyunjin hyung—you know him, right?—and I’ve been _thinking_ —”

“No,” Taehyun said icily, trying to back away and cursing how Beomgyu simply followed. From the corner of his eye, he saw the student at the front desk look up from her laptop confusedly and cursed Beomgyu’s ability to _always_ pull this shit when other people were around. “I swear to god, Beomgyu, if you’re having another one of your lightbulb moments—”

“I’m glad you agree that my ideas are _lightbulb moment_ worthy,” Beomgyu said with a wiggle of his eyebrows, “but hear me out! Seriously, I promise you will _love_ this idea—”

Taehyun doesn’t think he needs to recount that fateful day’s events again for anyone to understand that _no_ , Taehyun did not love the idea.

He blames Hyunjin, too, kind of. The two of them were always playing video games together and scheming behind everyone’s backs, despite belonging to their own friend groups and rarely actually meeting up to talk. He’s known Hyunjin long enough to know that the older boy’s idealistic spirit blends with Beomgyu’s impulsive energy in the worst way possible (in Taehyun’s self-proclaimed pragmatist eyes, anyway), so when Beomgyu had brought up the idea of starting a club, he’d been thoroughly exasperated.

“It’s not that I don’t support you in all of your endeavors, hyung,” Taehyun had protested later, trying to turn away from the puppy eyes Beomgyu was valiantly continuing to give him. “ _Stop looking at me like that._ I think it’s very nice of you to start a video game-centered club here. Truly. I’m so happy for you—”

“That had such a heavy layer of sarcasm to it,” Beomgyu said, a pout clear in his voice. “You’re the worst.”

Taehyun dragged a hand over his face. “I’m _not_ being sarcastic, hyung. You do what you want, but _please_ don’t involve me.”

Beomgyu didn’t respond. Taehyun proceeded to make the grave mistake of peeking over his shoulder to gauge the older boy’s reaction, only to be met with the sight of Beomgyu’s hands clasped together, eyes wide and pleading and pout fully-formed. “Taehyunie, _please?_ ” Beomgyu begged as soon as he noticed him looking. “I promise all you need to do is bring snacks and be my emotional support. I’ll handle everything else from there, I _promise_. Is it so bad to want my best friend of four years to be my co-president? I’ll buy you food as many times as you want!”

“I have more money than you, you idiot,” Taehyun pointed out, though he could feel his proverbial shield already breaking down. He silently cursed his unfortunate inability to say no to Beomgyu with a groan, and when he opened his eyes again Beomgyu was already grinning in victory.

Hence the beginning of their university’s very own Animal Crossing club. When Taehyun told his roommate about it, Kai had looked him up and down before hiding a laugh behind his hand. “I know,” Taehyun had said wearily. “It’s the dumbest fucking thing ever, isn’t it?”

“Oh, no,” Kai said, still smiling. “I think an Animal Crossing club would be super cute! Actually, I’m willing to join if you guys want. But—um, no offense, but you don’t seem like the type to know what Animal Crossing even… is?”

Taehyun had scoffed. “Of course I know what Animal Crossing is. I just never bothered playing it.”

“Kind of questionable of your friend to beg you to be his partner in Animal Crossing crime when you haven’t even played the game, don’t you think?” Kai pointed out. “I don’t know, I just think it’s cute. You guys seem close with each other.”

Taehyun, predictably, had flushed red, burying his nose back into his textbook. “We’ve known each other for years now,” he muttered flatly. “Of course we’re close.”

Which brings him to the biggest overall question—why the hell even bother doing this, anyway?

Kai had been correct in his assumption that Taehyun wasn’t exactly the world’s biggest Nintendo fanatic, past playing a little Fire Emblem and Mario Kart when he was younger. And it’s not like he could use any excuses here—it’s not as though he particularly owed Beomgyu anything and still doesn’t (in fact, it’s actually Beomgyu constantly begging for favors). He can’t say he pitied Beomgyu either, knowing his friend’s sociable and convincing spirit well enough to be aware of how the older boy could easily have people lined up and begging to be his co-president within the day. And he _definitely_ can’t give the real reason, because—

Well, actually, what’s the point? He’s already pulled too many strings and followed Beomgyu’s silly ideas at this point to _not_ call it a crush. It’s simple, because Taehyun’s been aware of it for years.

He just didn’t think he’d jump through loophole after loophole to avoid legitimately confessing and get himself to this point—leading an Animal Crossing club with his best friend of four years, who also just happens to be his crush, when he hasn’t even played the game yet.

Yeah, he’s fucked. He knows.

“Oh my god,” Beomgyu breathes as the last of their new recruits filter out of the club rec space. Taehyun looks over at him only to see the older boy practically wiggling on one of the long couches, sucking far too forcefully at a Caprisun fruit punch pouch before popping it out of his mouth and saying, “That. Was. _Amazing_.”

“Yeah, except everyone made a mess,” Taehyun complains.

Beomgyu seems unperturbed as he continues sitting and drinking his juice, silently watching Taehyun clean up for a few moments. Taehyun has to try hard not to feel his stare boring into his back. “‘S not a big deal, we’ll just be more annoying about enforcing the rules next time.”

Taehyun remembers that this thing is going to be weekly—every Friday—and instinctively winces. “... Ugh. Don’t remind me.”

Beomgyu laughs, the sound undeniably infectious, and Taehyun turns away again. “Stop being such a hardass, Taehyunie! You’ll be more into it once you start playing New Horizons. You have it now, right?”

“Sure,” Taehyun mutters. “And yeah, it came in yesterday.”

“Yay!” Beomgyu seems genuinely excited. “I’ll text you beginner’s tips tonight, then! And you can come visit my island once you get settled down. Actually, I’ll make you all the basic materials so you won’t be suffering like the rest of us.”

“Who said I was going to take any of this seriously in the first place?” Taehyun says petulantly, but Beomgyu simply rolls his eyes.

The meeting did go well, though, and Taehyun actually feels pretty satisfied. They hadn’t done much beyond introductions and listing out what the club was actually for—“We’re gonna help each other build the best islands ever, and to our tastes!” were Beomgyu’s cheery words—and they’re both leaving with a million new Switch friend requests and the phone numbers of students who don’t own a Switch (for Pocket Camp purposes). 

The sun is already beginning to set as they step out of the building and make their way to Taehyun’s dorm. “This is nice,” Beomgyu hums. “It’ll go super well, don’t you think?”

The note of smug satisfaction in his voice is enough to make Taehyun want to roll his eyes, but he stops himself, adjusting the straps of his backpack instead before saying, “I mean, I guess.”

Beomgyu bumps his shoulder into Taehyun’s, who retaliates by shoving back against the older boy so hard he ends up stumbling off to the side with a shocked laugh. “Hey! Damn, I always forget how strong you are just because you’re so tiny—”

“ _Hyung_ , stop,” Taehyun whines. He’s grown an entire four centimeters in the past year alone but can never catch up to Beomgyu, who always sits just two or three centimeters out of reach.

Beomgyu giggles. “Okay, okay. No jabs at your height.”

He drops Taehyun off in front of his dorm building and gives him a celebratory hug that makes Taehyun’s cheeks heat, quietly hoping he can pass it off as general embarrassment. Then he’s waving his goodbye and walking off down the street. Taehyun sighs before he steps inside the building.

Kai is back in their room by the time Taehyun steps in, taking up the desk space and barely looking up at Taehyun as he quietly greets him. Taehyun gives a half-hearted reply before dropping his backpack to the ground and immediately falling face-first on his bed. Kai makes a noise of worry at the sight and asks, “Dude, are you okay?”

Taehyun groans. “No,” he says, voice muffled by the pillows.

“Well, I’m glad we can acknowledge that,” Kai says. “Uh, you let me know when you’re up for a game of Cup Pong later. If you aren’t still feeling terrible.”

“Okay,” Taehyun sighs, quietly grateful for his friend's general nonchalance.

And true to his word, Beomgyu sends his tips and tricks to Taehyun at nearly midnight, along with a few links to different forums. Kai’s already asleep, having given up on studying a while ago, and his eyes burn with exhaustion as he unlocks his phone and stares down at his screen.

`first of all`, Beomgyu’s sent, `you’re gonna want to get all kinds of fruits! you start out with a specific island fruit but collecting all of them gives you goodie points (i have all the fruits on my island so i’ll give some to u^^). also, time-skipping in the game is totally valid because the first couple of weeks are slow to the point of almost being boring ㅠㅠ and also since it’s spring there’s a bunch of new fish!!! i will make u a fishing rod!!!`

Taehyun finds himself smiling, the stress of school leaving his mind for a moment. _He must really enjoy this game_. `thank you, hyung`, he sends, before he eyes the Nintendo Switch sitting on their windowsill next to his still-unopened copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

He might as well. It’s only a half an hour later, as he’s trying to decide which island layout he wants for the third time, that he sees Beomgyu’s response—

`you’re welcome taehyunie >< please sleep soon! don’t run yourself into the ground studying ;;`

Truly, Taehyun thinks as he focuses on his game again, fondness bubbling up in his chest, studying is the furthest thing from his mind now.

“Okay,” Beomgyu muses. “I’m thinking we can just let people schedule when they want to visit each other to gather resources among other things, but we can, like, make a list of things people want so other people can find them and trade!”

“That doesn’t sound that bad, actually,” Taehyun says, taking another sip of his coffee.

They’re in one of the nicer coffee shops on campus. It’s Monday morning and eleven am, both of them having met up after their respective too-early classes, so it’s bustling with students. Across the booth table from him, Beomgyu pushes his glasses up his nose cutely and grins, brushing his dark hair away from his forehead.

“Do you think so?” He asks excitedly. “Of course, there are some students who left their Switches at home, or they don’t have one altogether, which is why we need to set up a similar system for Pocket Camp. But yeah, a list of wanted items would be cool. We already have so many people who are pretty far in the game, too.” He wiggles his eyebrows at Taehyun. “Have you started yet?”

Taehyun tries to get over the embarrassment of admitting this and fails miserably as he says, “Um, yeah. Last night.”

“Oh, good!” Beomgyu says. He claps his hands together. “Okay, I need to finish my starter pack for you so you can visit my island.” Then he winces. “Ah, but my island looks like a mess right now, not gonna lie…”

Taehyun can’t help it—he laughs, covering his grin with a hand when Beomgyu blushes and scowls. He’s just too cute, Taehyun truly doesn’t blame himself for crushing so hard. “Hyung, I really don’t care what your island looks like. I don’t even have anything to go off of when it comes to what islands _should_ look like, remember?”

Beomgyu pouts, sipping at his own over-sweetened caramel mocha. Taehyun knows this because he’d tried it once and still swears to this day that it nearly gave him several instant cavities. “You should see some of the people on Twitter and Tumblr, you know. This game came out like three fucking weeks ago and they’ve already fully developed their islands. It’s unfair!”

Taehyun snorts. “Well, yeah. On the bright side, they’re really just wasting all their time playing video games compared to us, though.”

Beomgyu sighs forlornly, staring down at his drink. “What I would give to be able to ignore college completely just for Animal Crossing twenty-four-seven. Seriously.”

“Of course you’d say that,” Taehyun sighs, before he asks, “but is this game really, like… a way to de-stress for you?”

Beomgyu nods emphatically. “Honestly, yeah. It’s like… free therapy! Whenever you get super stressed out by life you can simply escape to Animal Crossing and focus on that, you know?”

“That sounds less like therapy and more like avoidance,” Taehyun says dryly. He doesn’t tell Beomgyu that he gets it, though—he’d spent two hours on Friday night setting up his island and getting used to the basics before he managed to turn his Switch off, but by then it was two AM and he’d already lost the motivation to continue studying.

Beomgyu grins and shrugs. “What can I say, really? But it’s fun. I think you’ll like it a lot.”

“Hm,” Taehyun hums. “We’ll see.”

“I’m really not kidding,” he laughs. “You know Soobin hyung, right? The childhood education major? He was at our first meeting and dragged his boyfriend—I’m pretty sure you know Yeonjun hyung too, actually!—and I’m literally not joking when I say Yeonjun _hated_ Animal Crossing more than you did but is obsessed now, all of the sudden.” Beomgyu’s eyes are practically sparkling from the fluorescent lighting of the coffee shop and the windows next to them allowing for natural light, and Taehyun thinks, _how can anyone be this pretty?_ “I’m hoping I can be the Soobin hyung to your Yeonjun hyung in this specific scenario.”

Taehyun immediately blushes, looking away as he processes the silent implications of that, whether Beomgyu meant anything by it or not. “I never hated Animal Crossing,” he mutters.

“You’re still a skeptic,” Beomgyu teases, before he falls silent and squints at Taehyun for a few moments. “Huh? Taehyunie, are you _blushing_ right now?”

“Shut up,” Taehyun says, ignoring Beomgyu’s indignant noise of protest in favor of standing up and grabbing his backpack and coffee. “Let me walk you to your next class, hyung.”

“You can’t just disrespect me like this and then try to appease me right afterwards!” Beomgyu complains, but he gets up anyway. “You brat.”

“I learned from the best,” Taehyun says jokingly, laughing when Beomgyu frowns and slaps his arm lightly.

The older boy drags him out of the coffee shop by hand and doesn’t let go as they walk down the sidewalk, tangling their fingers together, and Taehyun feels the sparks it sends up his arm long after he lets go.

  
The next meeting goes even better than the first.

Apparently Hyunjin has a _lot_ more social influence than Taehyun first expected, because he shows up on Friday with a bunch of new, interested recruits. Hyunjin's boyfriend, Changbin, is there too, though he doesn't seem particularly enthused. Taehyun only knows him because he's friends with Wooyoung, another dance major, and Yeonjun, so he gives him a polite bow, but Beomgyu drags him into a hug with an excited, “Hyung, you came!”

There are other people he recognizes, too—Jo Yuri, another political science minor, waves at him and winks as he watches her sneak extra juice pouches into her backpack with a raised eyebrow. Next to her sits Yang Jeongin, Beomgyu's roommate and Park Jiwon. Taehyun bows at all of them before he makes his way back to Beomgyu, eyeing the clock. “We should get started, shouldn't we?”

“Yeah,” Beomgyu says. For some reason he seems nervous, fidgeting and chewing at his thumbnail. “There's more than thirty people here today,” he informs Taehyun when he gives him an expectant look.

“I'm aware,” he says, squinting at the older boy. “Hyung, you look nervous. Isn't this what you wanted?”

Beomgyu pouts. “Well, yeah. I just didn't expect it to grow so fast?” He pauses before frowning. “Ah, I don't know. Maybe the plans we made won't work out or something—”

“Let's not fall into that mindset,” Taehyun says sternly. “You spent far too much time planning for it not to work out, hyung, so don't be shy, okay?”

Beomgyu seems... thoughtful as he looks at Taehyun, a flickering sort of nervousness that clashes with something Taehyun can't quite place in his gaze. After a moment, he sighs and says, “Thank you, Taehyunie. Um, sorry—last-minute jitters, I guess.”

“It's okay,” Taehyun says, nudging Beomgyu along to front and center. “Now c'mon, hyung, don't keep them waiting.”

They do, of course, end up starting a list of wanted items, mostly from the people who have already invested more time in the game than the casual players. Taehyun suggests the payment system—bells or Nook Miles Tickets, which he'd only learned after looking up the game mechanics itself—and also suggests that if anyone wants something but for some reason doesn't feel comfortable asking for it in the groupchat, they can simply message Beomgyu or Taehyun to ask and have it be sent to them first before being shipped off to the original person. At this, he gets a couple nods of approval, and Beomgyu shoots him a sweet smile that makes Taehyun's insides melt pathetically.

“I'm making a starter pack for Taehyunie here, since he's just starting out,” the older boy adds. “Just things like all the different kinds of fruits and the essential tools and DIY recipes. If anyone's just starting out and needs one, please let me know! I really don't mind at all.”

“I think Changbin hyung desperately needs one,” Hyunjin calls teasingly. Changbin rolls his eyes but doesn't deny anything.

Beomgyu laughs. “Okay, hyung. I'll make you one too!”

The atmosphere is light and relaxed. Older students mingle with younger students, and he gets to say hello to Soobin and Yeonjun, who both introduce him to Wooyoung and his boyfriend, San. There are people already playing Animal Crossing amidst the socializing, and Taehyun looks back at Beomgyu to see his hyung looking tired but happy, letting Hyunjin talk to him animatedly.

“Try not to look so in love, please,” Yeonjun teases, to which Taehyun whips his head back only to find Soobin and Wooyoung already laughing.

Once everyone leaves, though, Taehyun finds that he seems to be the more excited one. Beomgyu looks satisfied in that smug way of his again, but Taehyun frowns as he watches his friend sit down and then rub his temples. “You okay, hyung?”

“Just a headache,” Beomgyu sighs. “I have to finish a lab report before midnight, too, and it's only half done.”

Taehyun winces. “The joys of being a STEM major, huh?”

This gets Beomgyu to crack a smile. “Oh, yeah. It's the best, don't you think?” Then he sighs and says, “Maybe we should clean up now.”

“You relax, hyung, I can do it,” Taehyun says easily, and Beomgyu makes no protest, shooting him a grateful smile before he closes his eyes again.

Something in the way the older boy packs his things up, though, staring off into space, seems genuinely sad. Taehyun doesn't push, nor does he ask, because he knows Beomgyu doesn't like talking about his feelings when he's down. Instead, he bites his lips and fists his hands into the hemline of his sweatshirt before he gives into his own urges and says, “Hyung, c'mere.”

“Hm?” Beomgyu frowns confusedly but steps closer to where Taehyun stands next to the whiteboard. “What's up?”

And it's really all too easy to drag Beomgyu into a quick, tight hug, ignoring his sound of surprise in favor of saying, “Remember that school isn't always something you should stress yourself out over, hyung. You can do it.”

Their height difference means Taehyun's forced to bury his face into the crook of Beomgyu's neck to make it comfortable, and when he inhales he gets a whiff of light cinnamon. It's a moment before Beomgyu embraces him back—clearly surprised because Taehyun rarely initiates physical contact with him in the first place—but then he says, “You're just too cute, Taehyun-ah,” with a smile clear in his voice. “Thank you.”

“Don't call me cute,” Taehyun mutters, and Beomgyu snickers as they pull away from each other.

“It's what you are,” the older boy teases, before his eyes soften as he adds, “but really, thank you. It's just a couple classes running me into the ground right now, but I'll get back up soon.”

“Understandable,” Taehyun reassures.

“And anyway,” Beomgyu adds, lifting a finger matter-of-factly, “We both know I'm going to drown myself in Animal Crossing before I even start my homework, am I right or am I right?”

At this, Taehyun scoffs and rolls his eyes, and Beomgyu laughs that boyish, infectious laugh of his. But he finds it's hard to stifle his own fond smile, so he knows Beomgyu isn't taking it too seriously.

`**beomgyu ^-^** : come visit my island i know you're online!!`  
`**beomgyu ^-^** : i'll give you my fruits?? `ㅠㅠ``

Taehyun stares at his texts balefully. When Yeonjun leans over his shoulder to look, he immediately bursts into laughter.

“Dude, you are _so_ whipped,” he says, and Taehyun briefly considers murder.

Okay, so he's on his Nintendo Switch in one of the campus libraries—probably weird without any context. In truth, Taehyun's brain is completely fried from his attempts at studying so he's giving himself a break, but he wouldn't have expected Beomgyu to also be playing at three PM.

“Soulmate behavior,” Yeonjun says teasingly when he voices this thought. Taehyun simply glares at the older boy as he unlocks his phone.

`right now?`, he texts back. `how does this even work??`

`one person goes to the airport and asks to visit a friend online`, Beomgyu explains. `and then the other person opens their gates to let them in. does this mean you'll visit? ㅋㅋ`

`hm, sure`, Taehyun types. He looks at his own screen—his character's standing next to his fully built house, though its clothes don't exactly look... _visit-worthy_ , though he doesn't dwell on it.

Beomgyu says, `we gotta call each other though!`

Taehyun frowns. `Ah, i'm at a library...`

`ㅠㅠ` is Beomgyu's immediate response. `okay! let me know when you're back in your dorm pls. i'd come over but i think i'm catching a cold and i don't want you to get sick ;;;`

“Cute,” Taehyun mutters under his breath, and Yeonjun coughs none too discreetly. “Leave me alone, hyung!”

“Hey, you were the one who saw me sitting here and decided to come over,” Yeonjun points out. “That's on you.”

“I truly wonder what Soobin hyung sees in you,” Taehyun sighs with an air of disdain, and Yeonjun throws his pencil at him.

Kai, thankfully, isn't in their dorm room by the time Taehyun makes it back later. Not that he doesn't want his roommate around, but something tells him he would take the teasing to a whole new level if he were.

`i'm here, hyung`, he texts Beomgyu, and is unsurprised to get a near-instant reply.

`can i call you?`

`sure`, Taehyun says.

“Taehyunie,” Beomgyu says cutely as soon as Taehyun picks up. “Hello!”

Taehyun instinctively tries to stifle a smile before he realizes he doesn't need to do that and grins, taking his shoes off and sitting on his bed. “Hey, hyung. I hope you're not too sick?”

“Just a little cough and a sore throat,” Beomgyu assures. His voice _does_ sound a little hoarse—deeper and raspier than Taehyun is used to. “Soobin hyung brought me homemade soup, so it's fine. Okay, okay, get online now.”

Taehyun has more friend requests to accept from the club, so he does that as Beomgyu says, “I have my starter pack done for you, just so you know, so before you go to your airport make sure to drop everything you're holding.”

“Noted,” Taehyun says as he opens the game.

“Have any villagers yet?” Beomgyu asks curiously. “I mean, I think I can safely assume you haven't been playing _that_ much, but still.”

“Nope, nothing past my starter villagers,” Taehyun says. “Kai showed me some of his, though. He got... um, Marshal? I think is his name? Yeah. He got him on his first try.”

“Oh my god, shut up,” Beomgyu breathes. “I'm so fucking jealous. I got Lucky on my first try—I love her, but there's this stupid code in the game that makes your first couple of villagers have really basic houses, and the later you go the more developed they get, and Lucky's developed house is _so cool_.”

“I don't think I quite understood half of that,” Taehyun admits, and Beomgyu laughs, the sound crackling through the receiver.

“It's okay, you'll get it soon enough. Are you ready yet? It says you're online.”

Taehyun rolls his eyes. “Be patient, hyung.” He takes his time unloading his things next to his house, reminding himself to sell the clumps of weeds to Tom Nook's capitalist children. “How do you get over the river, by the way? Do we really have to wait for bridges?”

“You can build bridges later,” Beomgyu explains. “But I made you a vaulting pole to jump over the water with.”

“Oh, thank you,” Taehyun says gratefully as he makes his way to the airport. “Um, you can open your gates now?”

“They've been open, Taehyunie,” Beomgyu says dryly. “Come anytime within the next five years, you slowpoke.”

Taehyun can't help his laugh, and Beomgyu snickers too. “You're so mean, hyung.”

“Whatever. _Anyway_ ,” Beomgyu continues, “I'm giving you a bunch of other tools, too! Like a fishing rod, a ladder, an axe, a shovel... oh, a slingshot too. Among other things. Also, your island fruit is cherry, right?”

“Yeah,” Taehyun responds distractedly as he reads up on how online play works. “What's yours, hyung?”

“Peaches!” Beomgyu replies. “I'm giving the rest of the fruits so you can plant your own trees. And I also got you clothes that I think you'll like!” 

“Oh,” Taehyun murmurs. He's really put a lot of thought into this. It's kind of... painfully endearing. “Thank you again, hyung.”

“No need to thank me,” Beomgyu replies.

The older boy's island is named _Orangeade_ , which he has to confirm because a couple other people have their gates open as well. Taehyun confirms the flight and gets sent off, and after a moment Beomgyu says, “Crown's a cute island name, actually.”

“Thanks,” Taehyun says absentmindedly as he lands in Beomgyu's airport. He's loathe to admit it, but he's excited, practically vibrating on his bed as he leaves the airport.

The first thing he notices is the character standing next to the dock. “Your character's a girl?” He asks curiously.

Beomgyu scoffs, and the character starts running around in circles like he's rolling the joystick around repeatedly. “Bold of you to assume gender exists in Animal Crossing, Taehyunie. Do you like my outfit?”

The character stops moving as Taehyun runs over to him. They're wearing long black robes with a red tie around the waist, black sunglasses and a red hyacinth tucked into the hair, which is tied back into a small bun. “Honestly, yeah,” Taehyun replies. “It's cute.”

“Good,” Beomgyu says smugly. “Their name is Gyu, by the way. Okay, follow me. My island's still a mess, just a heads up.”

He begins leading Taehyun up the island, running past a fully developed town hall and another house. “After a while, you'll get a developed town hall too,” he explains. “And that's Tia's house! She's a normal elephant villager and just moved in a few days ago, she's really cute.”

Taehyun hums his acknowledgement before Beomgyu heads off to a spot next to the river, where a bunch of items are laid out in neat rows. “You have...” he pauses to stand next to the one closest to the river itself, and his character begins to clap randomly. “This row! You can pick up everything here, and the clothes are the last three items.”

“There's so much here,” Taehyun says even as he begins picking things up—the fruits are the first things there. “Oh my god, hyung, you take this so seriously.”

“Perhaps,” Beomgyu says absentmindedly. He takes out his shovel and holds it over his shoulder as he says, “I just want to make the game easier for you so you'll actually enjoy it instead of seeing it as a chore, really.”

That... makes something flicker in his chest. “I guess you aren't a bastard all the time, huh?”

Beomgyu laughs loudly, so loud Taehyun has to pull the phone away from him, and then he begins to cough. “You asshole,” he croaks out after a moment, groaning when Taehyun laughs. “I can't stand you. Worst dongsaeng _ever_ , I shouldn't have even put all of this together for you.”

“Right, right.” Taehyun grins. He sort of revels in these moments of banter between them, because they're so familiar with each other by now that nothing they say can actually offend them. He picks up the last of the items and eyes the other rows curiously. “This seems like a lot of work, though. How many people ended up asking?”

“Like, five,” Beomgyu replies. His character runs up to him and starts clapping again and Taehyun snorts amusedly. “Changbin hyung actually ended up asking too. He's coming over tomorrow!”

“Wasn't it hard, though?” Taehyun asks curiously.

“I mean, I guess it was time-consuming, but it wasn't bad at all,” Beomgyu says honestly. “I like having different tasks to do when I'm gaming which is why I like this game so much. I know you're the same, so I know you'll like it too.”

“It's not that bad so far,” Taehyun concedes, and Beomgyu scoffs.

“Whatever. You're so stubborn. Let me show you how to use these tools, okay? Get your vaulting pole out. Then I can show you my house and my museum.” Then he gasps. “Oh! Put the clothes I got for you on now!”

Taehyun tries to stifle a laugh and fails. “What are you so excited for, hm?” He teases even as he opens his list of items. 

“Sorry,” Beomgyu says, though he doesn't sound all too apologetic. A smile is clear in his voice and it warms Taehyun's heart. “But really though, sharing interests with people you love is super nice, if that makes sense? It's like—here's something I treasure, so I'm gonna give it to a person I treasure and hope they like it too! ... I hope that doesn't sound stupid.”

 _With people you love_. The words run laps in Taehyun's brain and he has to set his phone and Switch down to bury his face in his hands, his heart skipping a beat. He couldn't have meant anything by it, right? There's no way. He crushes his hopes and sets the phone on speaker just as Beomgyu says, “You still with me?”

“Yeah,” Taehyun breathes. “I got, um... distracted. Anyway, I get what you mean. It doesn't sound stupid.”

“I'm glad,” Beomgyu says, though he pauses beforehand and sounds almost hesitant before he clears his throat. “Now _c'mon_ , you're so slow! Sheesh.”

“Oh my god, shut up,” Taehyun mutters. He puts his clothes on and then stares at himself bemusedly, because—“... I'm wearing these exact clothes right now, hyung, what the fuck?”

Okay, he isn't wearing the red baseball cap—but he _is_ wearing the red sweatshirt and the black jeans, accompanied by black boots he most definitely owns. Beomgyu barks out a laugh and then coughs again, the sound crackling into static for a brief moment before it comes back in to him saying, “Oh my god, really? I've decided I'm a psychic.”

“I would believe you,” Taehyun says in awe. He runs around a bit and finds that he quite likes the way his character looks. “Thank you, hyung. I unironically love this.”

“As you should, or else I'd beat your ass,” Beomgyu mutters, but he sounds satisfied as he says, “Okay, let's go now. If you want any new clothes, just let me know and I'll buy them for you. Lemme teach you how to use this shit and then we can go on a museum date and I can visit your island afterwards!”

“There's, like, nothing there, hyung,” Taehyun protests, but Beomgyu's already urging him to get his ladder out as his character runs off. Taehyun follows begrudgingly with the words _museum date_ firmly lodged in his head, and finds himself enjoying the longest phone call of his life despite vehemently being against calling people in general.

He can't find it in him to be shocked. Beomgyu's been far too good at getting him to like things he'd never have bothered with otherwise. But he's thankful for it, too, because it means he gets to spend time with him like this—ultimately ignoring his homework in favor of listening to Beomgyu talking about all the fossils he's already collected as the sun begins to set.

When Kai steps into their room to see Taehyun nearly falling his his bed laughing at Beomgyu being chased and stung by bees, he gives him a knowing look. Taehyun pretends not to notice it.

`go check ur bulletin board ^♡^`, Beomgyu texts him a while after he leaves Taehyun's island. Taehyun stops collecting weeds—he was almost up to his carrying limit, anyway—and jumps over the river, curiously making his way over to the bulletin board and examining it.

Beomgyu’s the only one who has visited his island so far, so it’s understandably sparse. There are two new messages—the first one reads _Fuck u and ur impeccable island organization skills :(_ in an adorably messy scrawl. And the second one says—

_beomgyu x taehyunie forever!!!  
♡♡♡_

Taehyun blinks at the message, attempting to process it. When it clicks with his brain he automatically blushes and drops his Switch onto the bed, hiding his face in his hands and feeling how warm his cheeks already are with his palms. “Oh my God,” he whines.

“Are you okay?” Kai asks from his side of the room. “Do the villagers really fluster you that much?”

“What—no!” Taehyun scowls, and Kai laughs.

He scolds Beomgyu over it the next day when they meet up for lunch. “You shouldn’t swear on the bulletin boards, hyung,” he admonishes, politely refusing to acknowledge the second message. “What if the villagers see it?”

Beomgyu squints at Taehyun with an indiscernible look in his eyes, chopsticks halfway to his mouth. “Dude… what?”

“You swore,” Taehyun says patiently. “In your first bulletin board message. You shouldn’t do that in front of the villagers.”

Beomgyu blinks at him before his eyes widen and he suddenly bursts into laughter, loud and hard as he drops his chopsticks and throws his head back. He catches a few weird looks from other patrons as he nearly chokes. “Oh my God, Taehyun-ah,” he wheezes. “You’re so fucking cute.”

Taehyun wishes he had the brains to be smooth and reply with _You’re cuter_ , but instead he scowls and says, “What the hell are you laughing about?”

“It’s just—” Beomgyu pauses to laugh silently, curling in on himself and shaking as he squeezes his eyes shut. “Fuck, sorry. It’s just that villagers can’t see what people write on your bulletin board, Taehyunie. The game isn’t _that_ developed.”

Taehyun feels his ears going red and winces. “... Oh. Well.”

Beomgyu wipes a few tears from his eyes and picks up his chopsticks again, grinning brightly. Although honestly, I wouldn’t mind that second message being totally public,” he muses jokingly, shaking his head and picking up his chopsticks again. “Let Ola and Keaton know you’re mine, hm?”

Beomgyu’s _joking_. Taehyun tries to get this in his head as best he can, but it doesn’t stop him from sputtering and choking on his soda. It also doesn’t stop him from kicking the older boy’s shin when he bursts into laughter all over again, but really, that’s more force of habit at this point.

“Taehyunie, visit my island,” Kai begs for what feels like the millionth time, and Taehyun sighs, looking up at him over his Switch. “What? Haven't you literally already visited Beomgyu hyung and Soobin hyung?”

“Yeah, and?” Taehyun says just to see Kai pout. “I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'll visit your island in a few. I just need to get something from hyung first.”

Kai gives him a deadpan look. “Can I safely guess which hyung you're visiting?”

Taehyun blushes, hiding behind his screen for a moment to look down and see Beomgyu's character engrossed in conversation with Cherry. The older boy had been elated to get her, immediately texting Taehyun, and according to him he makes sure to talk to her every single time he goes on.

It's been over a month since the creation of their club and Taehyun's subsequent descent into Animal Crossing hell. By now, Taehyun knows the game in and out and treats it like the very same form of escapism he'd rolled his eyes over and called _avoidance_ mere weeks ago, and has finally gotten around to asking for specific items in their groupchat. He isn't sure if he wants to go for a specific aesthetic yet, but all he's been doing is terraforming, anyway.

“You don't need to guess who I'm visiting,” he mutters after a moment. “... It's Beomgyu hyung.”

“Oh my god, really?” Kai gasps dramatically, and Taehyun glares at him. “No really, I wouldn't have been able to guess! Truly, this is such a surprise.”

Taehyun scowls. “Shut up.”

Kai gives him his signature ugly laugh before he suddenly sobers up, setting his Nintendo Switch aside and sitting as he says, “Okay, but really, though—I think I need to stage a mini-intervention.”

Taehyun squints. “What? Why?”

“Because I'm sick and tired of your relentless pining,” Kai says matter-of-factly. Taehyun's mouth drops open as he continues, “Dude, you and Beomgyu hyung literally make me feel so fucking single, and I don't ever give a shit about relationships normally! This is not a feat you should feel proud of.”

Taehyun closes his mouth. Opens it again. Sets his Switch down and gapes at his roommate. “Um. That's... a lot to unpack.”

“Oh, please,” Kai says, rolling his eyes. “Can we just, like, acknowledge it first? That your crush on Beomgyu hyung is ginormous and also _really_ embarrassing?”

Taehyun pouts, but he doesn't bother denying it even as his heart pounds in his chest. “Uh... um, okay, yeah.”

“Thank god,” Kai mutters. “I was really about to throw a shoe at you if you genuinely tried to deny it.”

“Hey!” Taehyun whines, but evidently Kai isn't listening.

“I just—” his roommate shakes his head. “You don't even realize how obvious you're being, that's the worst part. It's always _Beomgyu hyung_ this and _Beomgyu hyung_ that—” 

“That's literally a lie,” Taehyun protests, grimacing.

“Right, right,” Kai scoffs. “Like I didn't just show you a fairycore wishlist for _my_ island and your only response was to pick out the things you thought Beomgyu hyung would like.” Taehyun, unfortunately, can make no argument here, and Kai somehow manages to give him a smug smirk while looking ridiculously exasperated at the same time. “Do you see what I mean? Also, he somehow got you into _Animal Crossing_. That should've been an immediate sign for _everyone_ involved.”

“Why do you all act like I'm some resistant-to-change cynic who shits on other people's interests?” Taehyun mutters. “Beomgyu hyung isn't the cure to my imaginary asshole conservatism. You or Soobin hyung could have dragged me into playing Animal Crossing too—”

“Except it would've taken significantly longer,” Kai interjects. “And there's absolutely no way you'd let me push you into starting an entire university club surrounding it with me. You'd rather dangle me out of our window by my foot, Taehyunie, and that's just a fact.”

Taehyun scowls. “... Whatever.” Then he sighs, giving in and running a hand through his hair. When he looks down at his screen, Beomgyu's already predictably ran off. “I just... say that I do really, really like him.”

“You literally _just_ admitted—” Kai starts, but Taehyun holds a hand up and he quiets.

“Wait, let me talk. It's just that—I've known him for years. We aren't some stupid K-drama duo where I've been pining hopelessly and he's actually been in love with me too this entire time, or he's just figuring out he likes me now, or—any of that.” Taehyun sighs. “I guess what I'm saying is that I'm trying to be as realistic about this as I possibly can.”

And it's true—he thinks he's learned to walk the fine line between letting himself properly crush on the boy he's been friends with for years and making sure to protect himself from the mere possibility of getting hurt. Kai observes him quietly for a moment.

“What is there to lose by telling him, though?” His roommate points out.

Taehyun shrugs sullenly. “Don't want to lose hyung as a friend,” he mutters. “Not that I think he would ever be like that, of course. Honestly, I think a part of me... also doesn't want to be humiliated.”

Kai squints at him for a few seconds before he groans, dragging a hand over his face. “I need to show you something,” he says quickly as he takes his phone out of his pocket and then stands up, making his way to Taehyun, who frowns.

“What is it?”

“Just give me a sec,” Kai mutters as he scrolls quickly, focused intently on his screen until his eyes light up and he smirks, turning his phone to face him. “Look at this.”

The first thing he notices is that this is Kai's chat log with Soobin. It's from a week ago, and Soobin's sent something—a screenshot—to Kai with the caption `ㅜ.ㅜ ah seriously these two...`, and Taehyun confusedly clicks on the picture only to see that it's Soobin's chat log with Beomgyu. _Why are you showing me this_ , he wants to grumble at Kai, but then he looks at the block of messages Beomgyu had sent and—

He freezes.

`hyung ㅠㅠㅠㅠ`, reads the first one. It's attached to a picture of Beomgyu's Switch screen, and Taehyun realizes it's from when they were visiting Beomgyu's museum together. His heart simultaneously tries to drop into his stomach and launch itself out of his throat as he reads the next texts. `look at us we're matching red and black! animal crossing boyfriends ㅠㅠ`

`he's really cute`, another one reads. `ㅜ.ㅜ hyung what do i doooooo ;;`

`ㅋㅋ wowww you're so gone for him beommie`

`i know ㅠㅠ he's too sweet what else am i supposed to do? sheesh`

Taehyun looks back and forth between his screen and Kai, mouth dropped open. Kai's crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently against their soft circle rug, and he'd honestly probably look more intimidating if it weren't for the way he's practically swimming in his baby blue sweater.

“Uh—” Taehyun starts, trailing off.

“I need you to know something right now, Taehyunie,” Kai says. It's the most serious he's heard him in a while. “If you try to be like _he only sees me as a friend_ , it'll be _me_ dangling you out of our window.”

“There's no need for that,” he protests. “I just—how long have you both been aware of this, exactly?”

Kai shrugs. “A couple months. But that isn't the point. Can't you see how whipped he is for you too? You won't lose anything by confessing to him, Taehyunie, I promise.”

“Says the person without a love life,” Taehyun mutters, and he gets to experience the lovely sensation of his foot being stomped on multiple times. “Okay, okay! Sorry. This doesn't make it any easier to confess, though.”

“Are you _kidding me?_ ” Kai exclaims, before he shakes his head. “Look, Taehyun. You have all the time in the world to stew over this and freak out every three seconds over what you should do, but the reality of it is—that's literally just you wasting time. You've always been someone who approaches things bravely, dude, seriously. But for once, stop trying to use logic all the time and realize that Beomgyu _clearly fucking likes you_.”

The mere thought of it makes Taehyun lightheaded, and he buries his face in his hands as he groans. “Stop instigating things,” he mutters weakly, his defenses falling, and Kai snorts. 

“It's not _instigating,_ Taehyunie,” he points out. “It's not bad to want to see my own friend get over himself and approach his crush, now, is it?”

Taehyun glares up at Kai, who shrugs and smiles, and thinks, _I have the worst friends ever_. A lie, of course, because his roommate seems perfectly fine with talking him through it and giving him tips, but he thinks it all the same.

(He supposes he sees it, though.

This isn't to say he's at all confident enough to firmly say he knows Beomgyu likes him back, of course. But for all his stereotypically stupid bisexual pining, Taehyun isn't an idiot—every single thing he'd originally brushed off as platonic flirting rushes back to him now, and he thinks, _Oh. Maybe there's something mutual here_.

The thought still makes him want to die of mortification. He doesn't understand why people call it nervous butterflies, because every time he thinks about confessing to Beomgyu his stomach starts violently protesting everything he's eaten that day. But he knows he can't deny it, either, which is perhaps the worst part.)

Taehyun's birthday aligns with the clubs two-month anniversary, so he decides to confess then. He makes sure Beomgyu isn't on his Switch—does it in the last few minutes before the meeting starts, in fact—and then sets his Switch down and gulps. There's really no way back from here. Hindsight truly is twenty-twenty, he thinks to himself absentmindedly as he makes his way to the front of the group.

Of course, they all celebrate—Yeonjun and Wooyoung bring an entire cake, and Yeonjun blows out the candles before Taehyun can get to them, which makes Beomgyu and Kai burst into laughter. By now most people are active players of New Horizons and their numbers total to over forty people. Taehyun calls the club a success, if the way people chat comfortably with each other and fill out their item wishlists is any indication. Taehyun himself as three villagers now—Freya (his _actual_ favorite villager, past the one Beomgyu had forced him to choose), Marshal, and Coco—and he swears Beomgyu only visits his island to talk to Marshal, though the older boy vehemently denies it.

But the bubbling anxiety sits in his stomach until everyone leaves. “Hyung,” he starts carefully, and Beomgyu gives him his full attention. “Did you bring your Switch?”

Beomgyu tilts his head to the side, dark hair falling into his eyes. “No, it's in my dorm room. Why?”

Taehyun internally sighs. Of course Beomgyu would leave his Switch in his room the _one_ day Taehyun needs him to have it on him. “Ah, okay,” he says, exasperated. “Can I walk you home today?”

Beomgyu's eyes brigthen and he beams at Taehyun like he's just offered him something extremely great. “Oh, of course! Jeongin's probably at Felix's place so it'll be just us.”

For some reason, Taehyun finds himself blushing at the prospect.

It's freezing cold as they walk to Beomgyu's dorm building, and Beomgyu predictably complains the entire time. At some point Taehyun gives into his urges and takes Beomgyu's hand in his own, reflexively hissing at the ice blocks that are Beomgyu's fingers, and when the older boy glances over at him with wide eyes, he thinks he can chock up the red tint in his cheeks to a little more than just the cold.

Beomgyu waves at the student sitting at the front desk of his dorm building before he proceeds to drag Taehyun up the three flights of stairs it takes to get to his dorm room. Taehyun doesn't come here often—if they hang out, they usually do so while eating at a cafe or restaurant—so it feels a little foreign to watch Beomgyu take his keycard out again and use it to unlock his room, dragging Taehyun inside and flicking the light on. 

“Welcome to my humble abode,” he says jokingly. “Sorry. It's a mess.”

“Ugh, I can tell,” Taehyun mutters. It's easy to tell which side of the room belongs to who, because for one, Jeongin's bed is actually neatly made. It's a similar set up to the room he shares with Kai, just with significantly less plush toys and significantly more video games. “Okay, I... um, need you to take out your Switch and go online.”

Beomgyu gives him a curious look as he drops his back pack to the ground and takes his shoes off, running a hand through his hair as he collapses onto his bed. “Already? What's up?”

“Just do it, hyung,” he says pleadingly. God, he think he actually might throw up if this continues any longer—he just wants to get it over with _now_ , in all honesty. “C'mon.”

“Sheesh, okay, okay,” Beomgyu mutters, though he doesn't sound annoyed as he takes his Switch out and plugs it into the charger. It's like everything he's doing is purposefully in slow motion, though Taehyun knows that's just the anxiety gnawing at his insides.

He's never done this before. Taehyun's used to people confessing to _him_ —and by that, he means he was pretty used to girls sneaking letters into his locker back in high school—but he's never been the one doing the confessing. And taking into account the fact that he's confessing to his _best friend_ makes this infinitely worse. But he knows he can't back out, because if he'd acted like everything was normal, Beomgyu would have gone on only to see it later, and then—

Well, that would probably be harder to explain. And anyway, a part of Taehyun wants to be here to see Beomgyu's reaction, as silly as that sounds.

“It's so slow, I'm sorry,” Beomgyu mutters as he repeatedly presses the A button, like that'll do anything. “Oh my god, Tom Nook, _shut the fuck up_.”

Taehyun laughs. “It's okay, take your time.”

“Right, right.” After a few moments, Beomgyu looks up at Taehyun with raised eyebrows. “Okay, what should I do? Am I visiting you? Why isn't _your_ Switch out?”

Taehyun tangles his fingers together. “Um, uh—” _You could just ask to see his Switch and then delete the message yourself_ , the coward in him whispers, but he tells that part of him to shut the hell up and says, “G-go check your mail.”

Beomgyu's eyes light up again. “Oh, you sent me something? Okay!”

He feels awkward just standing there as Beomgyu runs to whatever he needs to go, the only sound in the room being the tiny six PM Animal Crossing music. Beomgyu says, “Okay, let me see—”

He pauses, reading the message. Then he frowns, reading the message again, and then he blinks, and then—

“Taehyun?” He asks uncertainly, his voice smaller than Taehyun's used to, and he looks up at him. “You—this is—?”

Taehyun takes in a shuddering breath. He knows what the message says— _hyung, i just want you to know that i've had a crush on you for three years, and you're extremely important to me_ —so he knows he probably needs to fill in some gaps. “Um, I didn't know how else to confess. It's just—uh, yeah I've liked you for... quite a while, hyung. I think I just wanted to let you know that.”

Beomgyu gapes at him for a moment, and Taehyun considers flinging himself out of the room, but then—

“Oh my god,” Beomgyu breathes. “You're not kidding, right? Because if you are my heart will be broken and I'll cry, and we can't have that.”

Taehyun's breath hitches at the implications. “I—um, of course it's true. Why the hell would I lie about this?”

“I don't know!” Beomgyu exclaims, looking mortified. He looks down at his screen and then back up at Taehyun again, like he still can't quite believe it. “But, Taehyun-ah—I promise I've liked you just as long. Why else would I drag you into all my weird schemes and ideas?”

“Wow. Scapegoating me for years just to hide your crush?” Taehyun somehow manages to say with a raised eyebrow, grinning when Beomgyu blushes and squawks indignantly. “I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Hyung—you're incredibly important to me. I feel like I don't show it enough, so... y-yeah.”

They stare at each other for a few more moments before Beomgyu stands and says, “Get over here.”

It's not like Taehyun's never had his first kiss, but this kind of feels like it—he swears his fingers are going numb as Beomgyu tilts his chin up and leans in to brush their lips together. “Sorry if that was too fast,” he breathes. “But fuck, I've been waiting to do that for _years_.”

Taehyun's face is on fire. “U-um, likewise, hyung.”

“Oh my god, I can't believe it,” Beomgyu says, and then his eyes widen. “Oh my god, do you wanna be my boyfriend, Taehyunie?”

Taehyun feels like he's literaly going to explode out of sheer embarrassment as he stutters and says, “Hyung, that w-was kind of... the point.”

“Fuck yeah!” Beomgyu holds his shoulders and shakes them back and forth a little, practically vibrating, and Taehyun can't help his laugh as the older boy—his _boyfriend_ now—leans in and kisses his cheek quickly. “This is a dream come true, seriously, I need to tell everyone _right now_ —”

Taehyun winces. “Let's slow down a little,” he offers, and Beomgyu pouts. “Let's just play together for now and we can tell everyone... tomorrow, okay?”

“Fine,” Beomgyu says glumly, but then he pulls Taehyun down onto his bed and starts nagging him to take out his Switch, so Taehyun knows he isn't too bothered.

And it's _definitely_ worth it to see his reaction when Beomgyu opens his present to see a star fragment. The older boy tangles himself into Taehyun as much as possible and buries his face in his neck as he laughs, and Taehyun feels the most content he's felt in a while.

“I wish I was homophobic,” Yeonjun mutters under his breath, and Soobin frowns, slapping his boyfriend upside the head. 

“Hyung, why would you say that?” He admonishes. “You should be happy for them!”

Yeonjun sighs and drags a hand over his face. “Oh, no, I'm happy for them,” he says, shaking his head. “But you seriously don't understand how hard it is to be in their general vicinity when they're together. _Always_ planning Animal Crossing dates, even in front of everyone during club meetings! Who _does_ that?”

Soobin can't help his grin as he leans in to kiss Yeonjun's cheek, ignoring Kai's noise of disgust from behind him. “Yeonjun hyung, we were just on an Animal Crossing date _yesterday_ ,” he points out. “Let them live a little, okay?”

Yeonjun grumbles under his breath but leans in to wrap his arms around Soobin's waist anyway. When Soobin looks back, he sees Beomgyu and Taehyun's heads together, evidently brainstorming something from the way Taehyun's Switch is set out in front of them. Beomgyu looks at Taehyun like Taehyun's handed him the sun itself on a silver platter, and Beomgyu kisses his cheek quickly before re-focusing. Taehyun's cheeks, predictably, go red.

He grins. Those two are _disgusting_ together. He loves this development.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/9thstellium)
> 
> my account is locked 24/7 pretty much, but requests are always okay. comments and kudos are forever appreciated, especially comments! nothing brings serotonin like some nice words to a fic author!


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